Jewish World Review Dec. 22, 2000 / 25 Kislev, 5761
Non-Americans dubious
about nonworldly Dubya
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
UZES, France | For more than a month, Jean Louis Bouvard, the owner of
my favorite local cafe, asked me the same question each
morning. "So, cher Americain," he'd inquire with a
smile, "do you have a new President yet?"
Well, now that we finally have one, Jean Louis has
stopped smiling. For starters, he would have preferred
seeing the more worldly Al Gore in the White House. Most
importantly, Jean Louis is convinced there was something
decidedly wrong with the way we finally "elected" George
W. Bush. "In a democracy, people are chosen by voters,"
he notes with almost a frown, "not by judges."
Many other regulars at his Cafe Suisse d'Alger concur,
as, seemingly, do many people all across Europe, and, I
presume, Asia, Africa and Australia. Of no less concern
is what these non-Americans perceive as another dubious
legacy of the election: an atmosphere so sharply
partisan that it threatens to paralyze political
progress. "That's something we're used to in our part of
the world," said an Italian friend, "but not in America."
The international worry level also has been raised by
what non-Americans perceive as George W.'s overwhelming
lack of any real knowledge of global affairs or interest
in global cooperation. A cabinet and administration
filled with Daddy Bush retreads like Dick Cheney has not
done a great deal to assuage those concerns. Nor were
Europeans enthralled when national security adviser-
select Condoleezza Rice suggested that the U.S. pull out
of NATO security involvement in the former Yugoslavia.
To make matters worse, Bush's on-the-record support for
developing a U.S. missile shield has set alarm bells
ringing from Oslo to Bucharest. The loudest ones have
gone off in the Kremlin; a Bush-sponsored National
Missile Defense Plan would automatically abort the 1972
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Even peaceful endeavors seem at risk to Europeans.
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, after talking to
Bush, said the new President "will be a friend of
Britain and a friend of Europe, a friend of free trade."
Privately, however, those around Blair, one of President
Clinton's closest foreign pals, say Britain fears a far
more insular America with revisionist, almost
protectionist trade patterns.
The Middle East is also watching. Israeli experience
with Republican administrations has not always been
happy. Israel also remembers well that while Colin
Powell was at the helm when America led the battle to
liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, the secretary of
state-designate wasn't in favor of the idea at first
and was among those most virulently opposed to chasing
Saddam on into Baghdad.
For its part, the Palestinian leadership hasn't hidden
its initial joy at Bush's victory. Gore (not to mention
Joseph Lieberman) was perceived by Arafat's world as too
pro- Israel. Beyond that, most Arab rulers have always
gotten along famously with Texas oilmen. They remember
former Secretary of State Jim Baker with particular
fondness not the least for his supposed remark, now
infamous, "F--- the Jews they don't vote for us
anyway."
On the other hand, Palestinian cassandras have quickly
noted that Israel is one of the few foreign lands George
W. has ever visited.
As they say in Florida, sometimes nobody
By Richard Z. Chesnoff
JWR contributor and veteran journalist
Richard Z. Chesnoff is a senior correspondent at US News
And World Report and a columnist at the NY Daily News. His latest book is Pack of Thieves: How Hitler & Europe
Plundered the Jews and Committed the Greatest Theft in History.
12/14/00: A method to Barak's madness
11/30/00: Battle plan for Barak: Make a deal
11/21/00: Take back Arafat's Peace Prize
11/14/00: Europe worries as U.S. re-counts
10/19/00: Once a terrorist ...
10/13/00: Advice from rock victim: KNOCK IT OFF, YASSER!
09/13/00: Is Bashar Wimping Out?
09/06/00: Europe Must Confront New/Old Hatreds
08/18/00: Sharing but not dividing
08/15/00: The rabbi could learn from Lieberman
08/07/00: Arafat Misses Shot At Peace, & Peres Loses
07/25/00: Saddam's Cruel Drug Scam
07/17/00: Going For Broke: Barak and Arafat gamble on a future both sides will accept
07/13/00: Europe's Euro Takes a Dive, What a Shame!
05/31/00: Israel's Left Lebanon Iran & Syria Must Go, Too
05/08/00: Justice is on Trial in Iran
05/02/00: French Still Duck War Guilt
04/17/00: Pope's Healing Touch Helps Mideast Some
04/12/00: For Assad, Time's Running Out
03/22/00: Al Gore Leaves Voters Guessing on Foreign Policy
03/02/00: GOP Candidates Offer Little New on Foreign Policy
02/23/00: The Forest That Haunts Austrian Politics
01/26/00: Second look at Nazi loot
01/20/00: Foreign Policy: Do Candidates Even Have One?
01/03/00: Sudden Interest in WWII Justice Has Many Causes
05/20/99: Barak Can Deal From Strength
04/13/99: Is U.S. Right in Kosovo? Yes, We Can't Accept Genocide
02/10/99: King Hussein Was Truly Gentle Man of Peace . . .
01/19/99: Europe's Really Worried Now
12/30/98: Despite Critics, Nazi Loot Hunt Is Right & Proper
12/21/98: To Beat Saddam, Sustain the Raids
11/24/98: Iran's Meddling Is a New Danger for South Africa
11/05/98: Saddam's a ticking time bomb
10/29/98:
Pollard's Release
Is a Key to Peace Deal
10/15/98:
Hawkish Sharon May
Bring Home the Dove of
Peace
10/07/98:
Flake of Araby Won't
Make Deal on Pan Am 103
8/25/98: Embarassed to be a journalist
8/24/98: Clinton Sent Right Message With Those Missiles . . .
8/17/98:
Fair Settlement
For Survivors of
the Holocaust
7/27/98: When hopes collide with reality
7/22/98: A lesson about peace ...in Auschwitz
7/15/98: What Hitler tried todestroy, the 'Net helped put back together
7/8/98: Love -- and leave -- thy neighbor
4/9/98: The US Navy's two faced Pollard policy
4/2/98: A breakthrough in Lebanon?
3/30/98: Full rights for all Israelis?
2/27/98: America's Schindler
1/30/98: A last chance for the Mideast?
1/11/98: The Moment for Restitution Has Arrived